How To Video: 11 tips to get the most out of Siri

How To Video: 11 tips to get the most out of Siri

3:28 /
June 19, 2014

Siri is capable of doing more than you realize. CNET's Dan Graziano shows you some lesser-known features.

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Siri will be getting several new features and enhancements when iOS 8 is released later this year.
Among them are new dictation languages, voice activation and song recognition.
But even now, Siri is capable of doing more than you realize.
I'm Dan Graziano and I'm going to share with you some of Siri's lesser known features.
Everyone knows that pressing the Home button will activate Siri.
But did you know you can actually hold the Home button to ensure that Siri keeps listening.
This will prevent the voice assistant from cutting you off mid question.
You probably know that after you ask Siri a question you can scroll from top to bottom to see the previous answer.
But did you know that you can see these recent exchanges even after you've closed her?
Ask Siri a question, such as what is the temperature?
Close Siri by tapping the home button and open her again.
But instead of asking a new question, tap the lower section of Siri's screen next to the question mark icon and swipe down.
But what happened if you made a mistake when asking Siri a question?
Sure you can repeat or rephrase the question or you can edit it.
Swipe up inside Siri until you see your question.
Tap on the phrase "tap to edit" and retype or question or speak it by using the microphone icon on your keyboard.
While you can't yet use Siri to control third-party apps, you can use the voice assistant to open any app.
Speak the name of the app you wish to open and Siri will comply.
Feeling a little lazy?
You can use Siri to post a status or a new Tweet to Facebook or Twitter.
Use the command Post on Facebook or Post on Twitter and Siri will ask you what you would like to post.
You can also send an email or a text message to a contact in your phone by saying text or email Steve.
And have Siri read your incoming emails and messages to you.
To hear all of your emails in your inbox at one time, tell Siri to read all my emails.
To hear the most recent email by date and time, simply tell Siri to read my latest email.
The same commands can be used for your text message as well.
In addition to Siri reading the names and numbers of all your missed phone calls.
You can take it one step further by having the voice assistant playback your voicemail.
Simply say, play my voicemail.
And Siri puts your phone on speaker and automatically reads your latest voicemail.
Want to be able to tell Siri to text your wife or send an email to your mom?
You can set Siri up to recognize someone who's in your phone.
Open up the voice assistant and tell her that Veronica is my girlfriend or Anne Marie is my mom.
If you're frustrated because you're mispronouncing your name or the name of one of your contacts, you can teach her the proper way to say it.
For example, tell Siri that is not how you pronounce Graziano.
Siri will then ask you how to pronounce it.
Simply say the name and Siri will give you a list of pronunciations.
Pick the right or closest one and Siri will correct how she says the name from now on.
And finally, you can view a list of commands Siri is capable of understanding.
By saying what can I ask Siri, or by tapping the question mark icon in the lower left corner.
And there you have it, 11 of Siri's lesser known features that you can perform on your iPhone or iPad right now.
For more how tos like this one, be sure to check out HowTo.cnet.com.
You can also reach out to me on Twitter with any questions or comments.
I'm Dan Graziano for CNET, thanks for watching.
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